Making things worse
by Racing17
Summary: Pepper Potts breaks up with Tony Stark, and to say that Tony reacted badly is... the understatement of the year. Will they be able to find their way back to each other? Set right after Captain America: Civil War.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello everyone! This is my first time writing a fanfiction so please be understanding, especially since English isn't my mother tongue (I'm from Belgium so I speak French). I really wanted to explore the break Tony talked about to Cap in Captain America: Civil War and that was never mentioned afterwards. I don't have a Beta so if anyone is willing to be mine, please PM me! There should be more chapters to come if you guys like this one. _

_Enjoy! (and review)_

**Making things worse**

It had now been three months since that fateful night and Tony still didn't know how he could ever manage to live without Pepper. Six months ago, she had told him she wanted to take a break from their relationship, to have some time to reflect away from him so that she could decide if she would be able to endure the stress of dating an Avenger, of waiting for days for him to come back from his missions, of not knowing if he was even going to come back. Hearing those words had been hard for Tony, but he'd figured that she would choose to come back to him, because she loved him. But that was not what happened…

When he came back from Siberia, she was there, at the Avengers' compound, waiting for him. As he walked into his room and saw her sitting on the bed, he smiled widely, thinking that her presence meant the end of their break, meant that he would again be able to take her in his arms, to kiss her, to make love to her all night long and fall asleep holding her. He had missed her so much.

"Well hello Miss Potts", he said with a cocky smirk, "what a nice surprise. Couldn't stay away for too long could you?"

His words startled her. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't her him come in. "Tony…", she said as she turned her head to look at him, "I'm glad you came back in one piece". She smiled, but Tony saw that it didn't reach her eyes. A sense of panic started rushing through his veins. He couldn't see any feeling of joy in those warm blue eyes that he loved so much. There was only relief… and sadness. "Pep? What's going on?". She offered him a sad smile. "Come sit next to me", she said in a low voice. It was then that he knew. He didn't move. "I don't need to be sitting for you to break up with me you know", he answered mockingly, forcing a grin, because it was the only way not to fall apart in front of her. She lowered her eyes, unable to look at him and tears streamed down her beautiful face.

"I'm so sorry Tony. I just can't… It's too much for me to bear. I cannot stand by your side while you make a living out of getting beaten up…"

"Saying that I make a living out of saving people's asses would be more accurate but, yeah, whatever you want to call it", was the only thing he could think of. That was not was he was supposed to say. He was supposed to beg her to stay, to tell her he loved her and that he would do anything for her, to fight for her. But it didn't matter how much his three-month stay in an Afghan cave had changed him, he was still a proud, conceited, self-centered jackass and he was not about to plea for her not to dump him.

"Really Tony? I'm breaking up with you and that's all you have to say?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well… yeah. I'm mean I liked being with you and all, but you know, I guess a return to my playboy life style won't be the worst thing that has happened to me. I'm not the steady relationship kind of guy anyway", he answered with a shrug of his shoulders. That wasn't true. He knew, she knew it. But the look on her face told him that his words had hurt her anyway, which is exactly what he was aiming for. He wanted to make her feel the pain that he was feeling right now, he wanted her heart to break as well.

"Don't do this…", she said in a pleading voice.

"Do what?", he answered with a fake look of innocence.

"Don't make it worse than it already is. Don't make this relationship end badly."

"I wasn't aware that I was doing that. Actually, I'm doing the contrary. Because what I'm saying is that you don't have to feel bad, or guilty or anything. You said: "I'm so sorry". Well, you don't have to be, because the truth is, we'll both be better off without each other. You can stop worrying about me getting killed and I can start fucking other women again. I was getting kind of tired of having only one woman in my bed". Tony held her gaze has he said those last words in a cold and calculating voice. Any sign of sadness or regret disappeared from her face and were replaced with anger and disgust. She got up and quickly took the few steps that separated them before slapping him with all the strength she could muster. It seemed to Tony that the sound her hand had made when meeting his cheek echoed through the entire building. "Fuck you", she yelled before storming out of his room, slamming the door shut, holding in the tears that were threatening to come out. If there was one thing Tony Stark mastered, it was making things worse. Which is why, quickly opening the door before she could get to the elevator, he shouted through the corridor: "You did that already sweetheart and trust me, I'm happy it's going to be some else next time". She didn't turn back but he knew she'd heard him. And she wasn't the only one who did. The door to the room next to his opened and Rhodey rolled out of it on his wheelchair. He gave Tony a dark look. "Jesus, man. You really do know how to fuck things up".

He'd been right. The next day, Pepper resigned as CEO of Stark Industries, which forced Tony to take back his father's legacy. She handled everything professionally, meeting with him so that the passing of power could be arranged smoothly, without hurting the company's numbers. They hadn't talked about anything but business, in a polite but cold manner, as if nothing had ever happened between them. Tony knew he should have apologized, but he was angry at her, for hurting him, for breaking his heart, for leaving him even though she knew that she was the only person he had ever opened up to precisely because he feared getting hurt. At the end of their last meeting, a month after their break up, she got up, shook his hand and he watched her walk away, knowing but unwilling to believe that that was the last time they were ever going to see each other.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello again! First of all, I want to thank you for the encouraging reviews you gave me. Secondly, I know it's been a while and I'm sorry for making you wait that long. I didn't have much time to write because of exams and then going on holidays right after and everything. Besides, writing in English is much tougher than I expected, so it takes me a lot of time. However, I have more time on my hands right now, so the next chapter should be coming relatively soon. _

_Anyway, reviews are always welcome, good ones and bad ones, as – constructive – criticism is always helpful. _

_PS: I know JARVIS shouldn't be there anymore, but his "death" broke my heart and I couldn't bring myself to replace him with FRIDAY. _

_PPS: I obviously do not own the MCU_

The next two months passed in a blur. Tony had moved into the Avengers' facility in order to help Rhodey get back on his feet – literally. He helped him with his physical therapy every day and it was working pretty well; his friend now managed to spend a few hours at a time out of his wheelchair, sometimes even without the help of the mechanical legs Tony had built for him. Rhodey was on his way to a full recovery. And that was about the only good thing in Tony's life. But he would never admit that. He was in a very advanced state of denial. He'd manage to convince everyone, himself included, that he'd never been happier. He'd done exactly what he'd told Pepper he would: go back to his playboy life-style. He'd given up on his CEO duties three hours after Pepper had signed the company over to him, deciding to let his CFO and the board run Stark Industries for him. He still had to attend a few meetings with important clients and sign the papers that his newly-hired personal assistant brought him but, other than that, he was free to do whatever the hell he wanted. So, he spent his days down in the basement, where he had arranged his new work-shop, working on his suits and drinking while listening to his very loud music – more often than not, it was either AC/DC or the Clash – and his nights getting even more drunk. It didn't matter if he was home or out to some gala, party or absolutely random bar, he made a point of drinking so much that he couldn't even remember his name by the end of the night. When he was out, he usually brought a girl back with him to fuck before throwing her away like trash. The very few times he'd decided to stay in and get drunk in the living room on his favorite Scotch, Rhodey would always accompany him in his drinking, though he was never half as waisted as his friend, which said a lot about how much Tony drank, since his tolerance to alcohol was significantly higher than Rhodey's. They never talked much, content with listening to music or watch a movie in complete silence. It was unusual for Tony to keep his mouth shut instead of blabbering on and on about anything and everything that came to his mind. But he knew that whenever they started talking, Rhodey would inevitably ask him how he was doing and raise a quizzical eyebrow at hearing the usual "I'm grand, buddy" answer before trying to get him to talk about his _feelings_. So, Tony preferred to stay silent rather than spend the evening convincing his friend that he was truly, absolutely, fine. It never worked anyway. Though Tony couldn't grasp why he wouldn't believe him. So what if the Avengers didn't exist anymore? If he had learned that his parents had been cold-bloodedly murdered by a brainwashed super-soldier? If he had lost the closest thing to family he ever had since his parents' death? If the love of his life had left him and he had no idea where she was or how she'd been? He was Tony Stark. Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist Tony Stark. And he was Iron Man, one of Earth's mightiest heroes. And he didn't wallow, he didn't get sad, didn't curl up in a blanket and cry like a baby. His life was awesome. Every man wanted to be him, every woman wanted to sleep with him and if the people who had walked out on him couldn't realize how completely amazing he was, it was their loss, not his. He was completely over it, over them, over _her_.

Well, that was at least what Tony kept telling himself because he couldn't face the truth. If he was to allow himself to feel the hurt, betrayal and loss that he'd done a great job burying deep down inside of him, he would crumble from within and never be able to get back up again. Pretending like the things that happened three months ago hadn't affected him in the least was much easier. All the building things, loud music, drinking and partying was a very effective way to prevent any unwanted thoughts to enter his mind since it wasn't clear enough to think. So, as far as Tony was concerned, thanks to his constant drunken state, he truly was fine.

Tonight, was one of the nights Tony had decided against going out. He was sitting with Rhodey on the big leather couch that faced the huge plasma screen of the living room. Both were entranced by the movie playing before them, absorbed in the lightsaber fight between Anakin Skywalker and Obi-wan Kenobi above a very hot and deathly lava-sea. Sure, the prequel trilogy wasn't as epic as the original Star Wars movies and Jar-Jar Bings was probably the most annoying character that had ever been created, but Tony still found it pretty damn cool. Besides, Nathalie Portman was a sight for sore eyes – the two guys were actually amazed by how much she looked like Jane and had decided that they really needed to show these movies to Thor to see his reaction. It was the Spider-ling's comment during the fight against Cap that had made Tony want to watch the historical series once again – he hadn't seen them since he was a kid – and he had to admit that the kid had great taste, though he would never tell him that, as there was no need for his head to get too big.

So, there they were, sitting at either end of the couch with a glass of liquor in their hand, enjoying the movie when, just as Obi-wan's blue lightsaber swung over his head and cut off both of Anakin's legs in one fell swoop, Rhodey ordered JARVIS to pause the movie.

"Hey", Tony protested indignantly, "I was watching that!"

"Why did you stay in tonight?" Rhodey asked, ignoring Tony's remark.

Tony downed his half-full glass and leaned over to the bottle of Scotch standing on the coffee table in front of him to pour himself another one before leaning back into the couch.

"No reason. Just didn't feel like going out", he shrugged. "Besides, there's nothing like quality time with my best bud, right? And since you can't really go out on wheels, I'm sacrificing myself to spend time with you." He plastered a fake smile on his face.

"Right, and "not feel like going out" and think about someone other than yourself is a natural behavior for you?" the African-American man said dryly, not fooled by Tony's apparent indifference for the subject.

"Come on now Rhodey, you're hurting my feelings here", Tony mocked as he took another swing at his drink. "We talked about this, being paralyzed does not give you a free pass to be mean", he added in a highly annoying patronizing tone.

But Rhodey wasn't about to let him get his way. "So, it has nothing to do with the date, huh?"

"What date? I've had many _dates_ lately, if you can even call them that."

"Don't play dumb", James ordered while rolling his eyes at him. "Today's date." Tony didn't answer, instead shot him a questioning look. "August third? Ring any bells?"

The billionaire pretended to think about it before shaking his head. "Nope, don't know what you mean, Rhodes." He reported his attention on the screen. "JARVIS, put the movie back on." The loud music accompanying the battle thundered through the speakers for only a few seconds before Rhodey gave JARVIS the opposite order, and the calm returned into the living room.

"Okay, what do you want from me exactly?" Tony was getting really annoyed at this point. Of course, he knew what day it was, but that had nothing to do with his lack of desire to go out, because he simply didn't care, and it infuriated him that his friend wanted to push the matter.

"Oh, please Tony. Can you stop pretending for just a second? Today is Pepper's birthday and you know it and stop fucking telling me that it doesn't matter to you", Rhodey blurted, unable to stop himself. Her name hadn't been uttered once since she'd left, he'd been careful not to say it but he was tired of letting the man next to him continue to hide behind denial.

Tony's jaw clenched but he didn't say anything. Instead, he emptied his glass and filled it once more.

"Sure Tony, drink, that always makes everything fine", Rhodey commented darkly.

"Oh, fuck off! So, it's Pepper's birthday. Big deal!" he snapped at his friend. "Hadn't even thought about it." That was a lie. "Now can we go back to just enjoying the movie, please?"

"Not until you talk to me."

"Shit, man. You sound like a girl, or a fucking therapist. Your choice", he said, his tone back to an indifferent one while he brought a hand to his cheek to scratch his goatee. "Really, I'm embarrassed for you."

Rhodey opened his mouth to say something when they heard Mark Palmer, Tony's new PA, walk into the living room, interrupting the argument. Tony had made him move into the compound as well, since it wasn't unusual for him to have demands in the middle of the night – a 3am breakfast, for example. He'd never thought he would ever hire a man as a PA but since he had the nasty habit of sleeping with anything female with a pulse and he really hadn't wanted to sleep with his assistant – he'd convinced himself that it was because it would make things complicated and force him to hire a new one, but truly, it was because he couldn't bear betraying Pepper in that way – the only option was to hire a male PA. And he hadn't regretted his decision. Mark wasn't as efficient as Pepper (really, who was?) but he was doing a good enough job. Furthermore, he put up with Tony's diva behavior without ever complaining and that was definitely a prowess that couldn't be achieved by just anyone. So, yes, Tony was quite happy to have hired him, but he'd never been happier to see him than at this moment.

"Markie, what a great time for an interruption", he greeted the tall, fragile-looking, blond man with a smile, turning his head to watch him approach with precautious footsteps. He was clothed in a suit much too big for him – "I really have to introduce him to my tailor", Tony thought to himself –, making him look that much more incapable of handling the longs limbs that were attached to his body but over which he seemed to have no control. He was probably the clumsiest man Tony had ever met, and the terrified feeling that overtook him whenever he was in his boss' presence didn't help. He awkwardly walked up to them, stumbling on his own feet a couple of times before reaching the back of the leather couch.

"I am very sorry to bother you, Mr. Stark, sir", he mumbled apologetically, "I didn't want to disturb your evening. But I have, well rather you have…" – Tony wondered if he would ever manage to speak in his presence without stuttering, but he couldn't deny that it made him feel kind of good to see someone that afraid of him – "received an e-mail from the board ten minutes ago. They are requesting an emergency meeting with you tomorrow morning at nine, if that would suit you." His last words made his boss snicker.

"Right, if that would suit me. Like I could refuse", he said dryly, already feeling the need to yawn at the idea of spending more than ten minutes in a room with those stuck-up suits. "Did they say what it was about?" He might as well be psychologically prepared for what would surely be painful hours.

"No, Mr. Stark, sir. They didn't… mention it", the assistant stuttered, blushing a little as if embarrassed for not being able to read the board's mind.

"Well then Markie, tell them I'll be there, though I cannot promise to be on time", he smirked.

"Very well, Mr. Stark, sir", the blond answered before slowly exiting the room, keeping to himself that the e-mail had requested the meeting to be at ten, and not nine.

"Oh, and Markie?" Tony stopped him as he reached the door.

"Yes, Mr. Stark, sir?"

"Stop with the double naming", he sneered, before turning back to face the plasma screen too soon to see Mark nod nervously and leave the room.

Deciding he didn't want to finish the movie after all, he got up and grabbed the bottle of Scotch, which was almost empty at that point, to empty it completely, not bothering to use his glass.

"We're not done talking yet, Tony", Rhodey growled next to him.

"Hmm… but you see, I think we are", he replied while making his way to the liquor cabinet to pick up another full bottle. "Because, as you've just heard, I have a very early meeting tomorrow and well, you know I need my beauty sleep."

"Tony, come on." Rhodey sounded almost pleading. But his friend didn't even make the effort to reply and strode towards the exit, bottle in his hand.

"Do you even know where she is?"

Tony kept walking.

"Do you even know that she's okay?"

That question hit Tony like a bullet to the chest and he stopped dead in his tracks. Rhodey knew he didn't know. She had disappeared from the face of the Earth after their last meeting and, in his quest to pretend that he didn't care about her, he hadn't searched for her. But it didn't mean that not knowing if she was even alive wasn't driving him crazy with worry, deep down, where he had buried all of his other feelings. And those feelings were threatening to creep out of the vault in which Tony had locked them because of that question. But he couldn't let them. He really couldn't. So, without turning around, he simply shrugged before answering.

"No, I don't. But I really don't care, either."

With that, he left and walked hurriedly to his bedroom. It wasn't the same one as before. He'd chosen another bedroom when he moved in, because it was bigger and brighter and offered an incredible view of the beautiful green area that surrounded the facility, definitely _not_ because he couldn't bear standing in the room where Pepper had dumped him. Once he was in, he quickly asked JARVIS to put on _Highway to hell_ as loudly as possible and settled himself on the armchair next to the window. He sat there for a while, watching the sun set behind the tall trees, half-blinded by the few beams that managed to shine through the thick wall of green leaves, as the music pounded in his ears and drinking himself to near unconsciousness in order to keep any unwelcomed feeling at bay. It didn't take long before the bottle was empty. Content with his state of fatigue, Tony stripped out of his clothes and sunk into his bed, letting himself slip into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning, Tony strode into the meeting room at half past ten. The quiet chattering stopped as soon as he opened the doors.

"Good morning, beloved members of the board", he greeted in a mocking tone as he sat himself at the end of the huge glass table, "what can I do for you?" His usual smirk was strategically placed on his lips, because he knew very well how annoying it was, and he loved being annoying more than anything else in this world.

"You're late." The remark came from Mr. Crane, an old, dull, paunchy grey-haired man whom Tony hated with all his heart. He was an environmental-skeptic, sexist, homophobic, racist jackass. How Tony would love to send the pictures he had of him with prostitutes to his beloved wife if he wasn't worried that such a scandal would hurt the company. Though the comment was uttered angrily, Tony noticed that none of the people present were as irritated by his lateness as he had expected and it didn't take him two seconds to realize that Mark had purposefully given him the wrong time. "Sneaky little bastard", he thought, though more amused than angry at the fact that, despite his frightened front, his PA knew perfectly how to handle him.

"I'm never late", he answered in a pedantic manner, "those who arrive before I do are just early. After all, I am the CEO, aren't I?"

"Actually", Crane replied, "that's why we asked you to come in." The satisfied smirk that he bore while staring at Tony with a sadistic gleam in his eyes foretold nothing good. And, surely, the next thing he said confirmed the bad omen. "We think you should resign as CEO. You don't actually do anything for the company, and Ms. Wilson here is sinking with both CFO and CEO duties on her shoulders. After all, there is only so much a woman can do."

He gestured disdainfully towards the petite brunette sitting four seats on his left. Tony never paid much attention to the people sitting in the boring meetings he was force to attend; he felt like it would be less insufferable if he didn't look at all those boring businessmen surrounding him, which was why he hadn't noticed Lara Wilson even though he should have, since the presence of someone who was not a board member at a board meeting was very unusual and it often meant something bad. Had he noticed, he would have known that Crane was going to dump something like that on him. Lara shot him an apologetic look and he smiled at her reassuringly to let her know that he was absolutely not mad at her, because he was beyond sure that she had nothing to do with the board's little stunt. He looked at her for a few seconds. She was very pretty, with a straight-lined nose, big brown eyes and full pink lips, but her tight, austere-looking hair bun, her severe expression and the lack of make-up on her face did nothing to showcase her delicate features. The plain, dark, suits that she always chose for herself seemed to be designed to hide the curves of her body as much as possible.

Tony's eyes shifted back to Crane, his trademark smirk still adorning his face and his gaze glimmering with amusement. "Well, Bob", he answered, knowing how much the man hated to be called that, "that really isn't your call. I mean, since I hold the majority of the shares and all that, I have to answer to no one. Especially not pathetic brainless board members like you. You can't force me to do anything, and you know it."

Crane's eyes furiously shot daggers at Tony and he opened his mouth to no doubt insult the playboy back but was interrupted by a man sitting at the other side of the table. "We are not trying to force you, Tony", he intervened in a calm voice. Thomas Cross was the one board member that Tony didn't hate. He'd been there for as long as he could remember and he'd always been nice to him, trying to comfort him as best he could after his parents' death. Tony knew he'd been close to his father and he'd always acted as a wise and caring uncle towards him, which was why he listened to what he had to say. "Listen, you've made it pretty clear you don't want to be CEO. And no one blames you for that. You're an engineer, the greatest engineer there is, and that's how you've helped the company grow all those years. But you've never been a CEO, not even when you were. It was Obadiah, for all his faults, who ran this company. And then it fell onto Ms. Potts' hands." Tony cringed a little at the mention of Pepper, but not enough for anybody to notice. "But no one is helping you now and if you keep it that way, you're going to run your company into the ground. And we both know you care too much about your father's legacy to let that happen." He bore serious cloudy grey eyes into Tony's brown ones and held his gaze until Tony couldn't handle it anymore. He looked down at his hands and stayed silent for a moment. He knew Thomas was right, that things couldn't stay the same forever without major consequences. And he shouldn't have a problem with appointing a new CEO, since he hated doing it anyway. There were enough people in the planet to find someone able to do the job perfectly well. But, out of the two CEO's that hadn't been his father or him, one had tried to have him killed and the other… Well he'd rather not think about what the other had done, about how she'd left a whole in his chest that couldn't be filled with an arc reactor. But he couldn't in all seriousness explain to the board that the only reason he didn't want to hire a new CEO was sheer superstition, not when he had trouble admitting it to himself. So, tugging the corner of his lips upward into an arrogant smile, he said: "Fine, I'll think about it and I'll get back to you as soon as I find someone as utterly brilliant as I am to replace me." And he got up, closing the buttons of his suit, before adding "Though I doubt someone like that exists" and getting out of the room, ignoring the cries of protest that he left behind.

When he got home, he was more pissed off than he'd wanted to be. It wasn't so much because of the stunt the board was trying to pull – though the fact that people not half as intelligent as he was thinking that they were better than him infuriated him. It wasn't even because of that asshole Robert Crane, though he wouldn't have minded sending an Iron Man's blast through his chest. No, he was pissed off because he cared. About his father's legacy, about the fact that the people closest to him had hurt him more than he thought possible. And he didn't want to care, which pissed him off even more. As soon as he arrived, he took a bottle of Scotch and headed down to his workshop, drinking and building as music blasted through his ears: the perfect recipe to be unable to think clearly. He concentrated on his hands, never letting his mind wandering to the meeting and the feelings it threatened to bring up.

He didn't hear Mark come in a few hours later, nor did he hear him as he tried to shout over the music. It was only when his assistant poked him hesitantly on the shoulder that he noticed his presence. Tony stopped was he was doing and turned around, giving the frightened boy a deadly look while raising his eyebrow questioningly, allowing him to ask: "What the fuck do you want now?" without having to talk, because he sure as hell wasn't going to pause the song that was playing. And Mark, unlike Pepper, was too afraid of him to dear stop it without his permission, especially after the fit Tony threw the one time that he'd done just that. Since that moment, the assistant always carried a portable white board with him on which he wrote the messages for his boss, which he was now raising so that it was one the same level as Tony's eyes, so that he could read: "Gala in Paris tomorrow at 6pm. Plane leaves at 9pm tonight." The obnoxious engineer let out a very irritated sigh and rolled his eyes as he turned the music off. This brand-new information was going to need a conversation that couldn't be had through a white board.

"Are you fucking shitting me?" he asked dryly while throwing his hands in the air before letting them drop to his side. "That's in six fucking hours. Can't you give a man a notice?"

Mark's face turned to white and his lower lip quivered a little. "But, Mr. Stark, sir… I've, I've told you about the gala a month ago, and… and then two weeks ago and I told you about the flight time yesterday afternoon…"

Tony's features softened a little, because it wasn't the boy's fault if he was drunk all the time and forgot the conversations that he didn't deem interesting.

"Right, whatever", he shrugged, and Mark knew that was the closest thing to an apology he would ever get. "I'm not going anyway. The board pissed me off today and I'm not doing anything for Stark Industries right now."

If Mark wasn't so terribly afraid of his boss, he might have rolled his eyes at the fact that Tony never even listened to a word he said. "The gala has nothing to do with Stark Industries, sir. It's a fundraiser for a foundation that's helping people in third-world countries that you support in your own name, sir, not in the company's. And you already RSVP'd when I told you about it a month ago."

Shit. Tony may be an asshole, but he couldn't really turn his back on starving children, could he? He had to go.

Tony was standing outside the entrance of the biggest reception hall of one of the most prestigious hotels in Paris, unwilling to go in just quite yet. He wasn't nearly drunk enough to face all the stuck-up people he knew he would find inside. His tolerance to alcohol was getting annoyingly high. He was already so late that he'd missed the dinner part of the evening anyway, so it didn't really matter if he got in now or in a few minutes. After all, the only reason he was there was to give a check with an absurd number of zeros written on it and to be seen doing it. Tony had always loved recognition. Unfortunately, he knew he wouldn't be able to leave after five minutes. People would come up to him, amazed at meeting the great Iron Man and he would be forced to shake their hands and talk to them and be polite although he despised their mediocre intelligence.

The two vigils at the entrance were looking at him excitedly, impatient for him to decide to go inside so that they could share a few words with him. With a sigh, he finally made his way to the door and walked in without being asked to confirm his identity, as the two guards almost reverently let him through the door, bidding him a good evening when he passed them. The reception hall was huge and gracefully decorated, with magnificent chandeliers hanging from the roof. It was simple and yet beautiful, because French people understood that elegance comes with simplicity. Cocktail tables had been placed so as to leave a space in the middle of the room where men in tuxedos and women in incredible dresses were dancing along to the tasteful music that was playing. Tony recognized some of the faces in the room, but not as many as he should have, as he'd already met half the people that were there.

He made a beeline to the open bar, praying that he could at least get a drink before anyone came up to him. But his prays were left unanswered and it took him at least twenty minutes to make his way up to the bar, during which he had to make small talk with one of France's richest man and his trophy wife, who couldn't stop ogling him like the only thing she wanted was to jump his bones right there and then. He ordered a glass of Scotch to a doe-eyed barmaid wearing a dress with a neckline low enough that nothing was left to the imagination and started flirting with her as he drank, rejoicing at the feeling of the strong alcohol flowing down his throat.

"So, do you have a boyfriend?" he smirked.

"Not tonight I don't", she replied with a mischievous smile. He rolled his eyes at the easiness of it all. Thank God he didn't need a challenge to enjoy getting laid.

"Well, get me another Scotch and maybe I'll spend your next break with you", he winked at her and she looked like she might melt at his words.

He turned his back to the bar as soon as she filled his glass and let his eyes wander about the room for two seconds before being interrupted by a tall dark-haired man that came up to him.

"Tony, hey! It's good to see you again", the man greeted. Tony had to stop a groan of discontent from leaving his lips. Dr. Hansen was probably the most boring man Tony had ever met and, considering how much boring people he'd met, that was saying a lot. He was a biologist in his late forties who had one minor breakthrough in his entire career and thought it made him the best in his field. He was as obnoxious as Tony, if not more, when he had no reason to be and loved to rub in the engineer's face that he, in fact, had a PhD, which obviously made him superior to him.

"Hi Paul, how's all the unsuccessful research going?" Tony replied, an arrogant grin on his face.

"Oh Tony, I've missed your jokes you know. We don't see you around much since your buddy kicked your ass."

"Yeah, well, you know, all my time is spent getting lucky, not that you would know anything about that", he countered in a hypocritically pleasant tone.

"That's right, I heard your girl dumped you", Paul snorted while giving Tony a not-so-friendly tap on the shoulder. "I'd say I'm sorry for you but, really, I'm not." Something in his voice and his conceited smile made Tony's insides tighten. The man in front of him was looking at him almost knowingly, as if there was a hidden message in his words. But he didn't have time to ponder on that because, as he was studying Dr. Hansen's face, something in the background caught his eye, making him focus his gaze to the right.

That's when his heart stopped beating.

_I really hoped you enjoyed this chapter, I promise I'll try to update very soon. _


End file.
